The present invention relates generally to cable ties and more particularly to a cable tie used in conjunction with a cable tie installation tool.
Cable ties, also known as harnessing devices, are well known devices and are commonly used in the art for holding together a bundle of objects, such as wires or cables.
One type of cable tie which is well known and widely used in the art comprises an elongated strip of plastic material having rectangular head at one end and a serrated tail at the other end. Feeding the tail of the tie through a strap receiving channel formed in the head results in the cable tie taking the shape of a loop with the serrations of the tail engaging and being locked in position by a pawl inside the head, the tail being incapable of removal once it is inserted in the head.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,754,529 to J. R. Paradis, which is incorporated herein by reference, there is disclosed a bundling of objects using a harnessing device with a locking head and a strap with teeth that are controlled by stretching. The locking head contains a pawl or tang that engages the teeth of the strap by wedging. One or more wedging teeth are desirably located on the locking tang as well. A further tooth to promote locking is desirably included in the locking head. The strap is advantageously molded of stretch reorientable material which is subsequently stretched to control the profile of the teeth which are engaged by the locking tang and head. The teeth are spaced on the strap to permit use of the teeth near the head for the harnessing of small bundles. The pawl is provided with specified pivot points for both the insertion and loading of the strap in the head.
Another type of cable tie which is well known and widely used in the art comprises an apertured strap fitted to a buckle-like head, with a tongue that enters the apertures of the strap.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,766,608 to R. B. Fay, which is incorporated herein by reference, there is disclosed a tie formed by a locking head and an attached ladder strap. The head contains a longitudinal guide channel for receiving the strap, after encirclement of items to be bundled, and an internal locking tang. The latter is deflected with respect to relatively narrow auxiliary channels on opposite sides of the guide channel. One of the auxiliary channels receives the locking tang during the bundling of the items; the other auxiliary channel contains a stop against which the locking tang becomes abutted in planar engagement by the reverse thrust of the harnessed items.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,347,648 to L. P. Dekkers, which is incorporated herein by reference, there is disclosed a tie formed by a locking head and an attached ladder strap. The head contains a locking tang and a guide channel that receives the strap after encirclement of items to be bundled. The tang engages the rungs of the ladder strap for the adjustable retention of the items. The free end of the strap has a light-weight webbed tail that facilitates the insertion of the strap into the head. The strap is advantageously molded of a stretch reorientable material and is subsequently stretched to produce a suitable strengthening and elongation of the webbed tail.
Cable ties of the type described above are often wrapped around a bundle of objects using a portable cable tie installation tool. As can be appreciated, cable tie installation tools facilitate the ease in which an operator can feed the tail of a cable tie through its associated head, which is highly desirable.
A fully automatic cable tie installation tool is one well known type of cable tie installation tool which is well known and widely used in the art.
Fully automatic cable tie installation tools typically comprise an electric motor that derives its power from a power cord or a battery pack which is either disposed within the tool or carried by the operator. The electric motor is used to automatically separate an individual cable tie from a clip, or strip, of interconnected cable ties and automatically wrap the individual cable tie around the desired bundle using a pair of arcuate jaws.
Fully automatic cable tie installation tools of the type described above are well known and are commonly used in commerce. However, it has been found that fully automatic cable tie installation tools suffer from a notable drawback.
Specifically, it has been found that the automatically driven mechanics which separate an individual cable tie from a clip of interconnected cable ties greatly increases the overall complexity of the tool. As a result, fully automatic cable tie installation tools are have been found to be considerably expensive to manufacture and heavy, which is highly undesirable.